Ancient Animal - Enchelion Montium Modern Animal - Common Eel Scaled Camouflaging Eel The future animal Scaled Camouflaging Eel (Anguilla Lanx) has similar appearance with its ancestor common eel. Its length is approximately 100 cm and weighs around 20 kg. Because the Common eel had extremely poor eyesight, the Scaled Camouflaging Eel has evolved into a blind fish. However, it sends out a high frequency like a dolphin to have a clear image of its surrounding area. This follow report will outline the 5 adaptations of the future animal that will exist around 100 million years later. Scientific Classification
LEVEL
CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Anguilliformes
Family
Anguillidae
Genus
Anguilla
Species
Anguilla Lanx
Figure 1: Labelled Diagram of Scaled Camouflaging Eel
Habitat
Figure 2: 100 Million Years in the Future Source: http://emsnews.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/earth-100-million-years-from-now.png
The future world would be extremely different from the world we live in nowadays. Because of global warming, our future world’s average climate would be 5 to 10 degrees Celsius higher than it is now. The modern continents will change drastically due to tectonic movements through the millions of years, all the continents will move up in a northward direction. Australia will crash into Asia forming a new continent called Ausasia. South America will collide with North America, forming a huge land mass. Africa will combine with Europe to form a continent called Eurica. The future world will be nothing like the world we live in now.
Due to the melting of icecaps, the salinity level of the ocean will decrease. There is no definite line between freshwater and saltwater. The Scaled Camouflaging Eel’s breeding behaviours will differ from the Common Eel since it will not move around in freshwater and saltwater, but stay in one particular sea. The eel will also live in a much warmer environment with a decreased level of salinity in the water.
In the future, all the continents and oceans will be different from the ones now. The Scaled Camouflaging Eel will not just live in a particular area of the ocean like the Common Eel, instead it will spread out across different seas in the world. Due to its non – seasonal breeding behaviours, the Scaled Camouflaging Eel is able to reproduce large amounts of baby eels throughout the year.
The Scaled Camouflaging Eel probably has the same predators as its ancestor the Common Eel. Any large carnivorous fish like the shark will eat the eel. The future eel will have the same eating habit as the modern eel. The Anguilla Lanx will feed on small fish, sea urchins, shrimps and other crustaceans.
Structural ONE - Camouflaging Skin
One of the most effective ways of escaping from a predator is hiding from it. The future Scaled Camouflaging Eel has skin that is able to camouflage into the colour of its surrounding environment. When it senses danger or stress, the eel will pick up the colour from the background and change its skin colour to it. The camouflaged eel will appear almost invisible to human eyes and to most of its predators. Without camouflaging, the eel’s skin has a silvery black colour, similar to its ancestral eel.
Another reason for the Scaled Camouflaging Eel’s distinctive skin is to conceal itself in the background while waiting for a chance to ambush its prey. Other fish and marine life will not be able to see it, thus falling into the eel’s trap and swims closer. With a snap of the eel’s powerful jaws and sharp teeth, the prey will be dead before they knew it.
Structural TWO - Mild Poisonous Slime
Same as its ancestral eel, the Common Eel, the Scaled Camouflaging Eel also has a thin layer of slime covering its body. The slime’s basic purpose is to prevent bacteria and pathogens from entering the body. It also assists with osmoregulation and migrating around saltwater and freshwater. The Scaled Camouflaging Eel’s slime not only has those function, it has also been developed into a mildly toxic slime. You will feel an instant numbness if contacted with the slime. However, this feeling only exists for a short period of time and do not have any fatal effects. By numbing its predators, it has a much higher chance of escaping from death.
Behavioural ONE - Dig Holes
As weird as it might sound, the Scaled Camouflaging Eel loves to dig holes on the seabed and hide in it. Because of global warming, the earth faced extreme climate changes, the future world will be at least 5 to 10 degree Celsius higher than it is now. The temperature of the sea water will definitely follow and rise up too, becoming a much warmer environment for marine organisms. The eels dig holes on the seabed to keep themselves cool. They wriggle their bodies deep into the cool sand to prevent the hot summer days. It is not unusual to see more than one eel living in one hole; there can be up to five eels living in one. Some holes can be as deep as 10m; this is where the sand is around 10 degrees lower than the outside world. Since the Scaled Camouflaging Eel is a nocturnal animal, it rarely comes out of the hole in broad daylight.
Behavioural TWO - Mating Behaviours
When choosing a mating partner in the animal kingdom, the males will always have to fight for it. The winning male, obviously the stronger one, mates with the female. This will pass the stronger genes to the next generation and the cycle continues. The Scaled Camouflaging Eel’s mating season is in the middle of winter. On a dark moonless night, the male eel and female eel release sperms and eggs into the sea. They will then combine and form a tiny organism. This organism will then attach themselves on a fish’s skin and live on its nutrients. After a few months, they will turn into tiny looking transparent eels. It takes around 15 years for both male and female to become sexually mature.
During this time, the eel will develop its sharp teeth and all its structural adaptations. The young eels will not be able to camouflage like an adult eel, instead they have a muddy skin colour and tend to live near the seabed. They eat crustacean that floats around in the sea. The eel’s last stage of development is its camouflaging skin; it is a sign of the eel becoming mature.
Physiological ONE - Echolocation
The newly evolved Scaled Camouflaging Eel has no eyesight at all due to the extreme poor eyesight its ancestor had. However, it will still be able to “see” its surrounding environment even better than a human eye. The eel uses the method of echolocation like a dolphin or a bat. It sends out high frequency waves and when it hits an object some of the wave reflects back to the eel. It then generates another wave, which measures the distance and the size of the object.
Echolocation not only allows the eel to locate its surroundings but also in a much more complex way. Some of which we can’t even see with our naked eyes. The high frequency wave the eel send out can go through skin before reflecting back. This means, it works as a sort of x-ray, revealing an organism’s organs and structure to the eel. Echolocation is extremely sensitive and can locate an object a couple of metres away.
Modern Animal - Common Eel
Scaled Camouflaging Eel
The future animal Scaled Camouflaging Eel (Anguilla Lanx) has similar appearance with its ancestor common eel. Its length is approximately 100 cm and weighs around 20 kg. Because the Common eel had extremely poor eyesight, the Scaled Camouflaging Eel has evolved into a blind fish. However, it sends out a high frequency like a dolphin to have a clear image of its surrounding area. This follow report will outline the 5 adaptations of the future animal that will exist around 100 million years later.
Scientific Classification
Habitat
The future world would be extremely different from the world we live in nowadays. Because of global warming, our future world’s average climate would be 5 to 10 degrees Celsius higher than it is now. The modern continents will change drastically due to tectonic movements through the millions of years, all the continents will move up in a northward direction. Australia will crash into Asia forming a new continent called Ausasia. South America will collide with North America, forming a huge land mass. Africa will combine with Europe to form a continent called Eurica. The future world will be nothing like the world we live in now.
Due to the melting of icecaps, the salinity level of the ocean will decrease. There is no definite line between freshwater and saltwater. The Scaled Camouflaging Eel’s breeding behaviours will differ from the Common Eel since it will not move around in freshwater and saltwater, but stay in one particular sea. The eel will also live in a much warmer environment with a decreased level of salinity in the water.
In the future, all the continents and oceans will be different from the ones now. The Scaled Camouflaging Eel will not just live in a particular area of the ocean like the Common Eel, instead it will spread out across different seas in the world. Due to its non – seasonal breeding behaviours, the Scaled Camouflaging Eel is able to reproduce large amounts of baby eels throughout the year.
The Scaled Camouflaging Eel probably has the same predators as its ancestor the Common Eel. Any large carnivorous fish like the shark will eat the eel. The future eel will have the same eating habit as the modern eel. The Anguilla Lanx will feed on small fish, sea urchins, shrimps and other crustaceans.
Structural ONE - Camouflaging Skin
One of the most effective ways of escaping from a predator is hiding from it. The future Scaled Camouflaging Eel has skin that is able to camouflage into the colour of its surrounding environment. When it senses danger or stress, the eel will pick up the colour from the background and change its skin colour to it. The camouflaged eel will appear almost invisible to human eyes and to most of its predators. Without camouflaging, the eel’s skin has a silvery black colour, similar to its ancestral eel.
Another reason for the Scaled Camouflaging Eel’s distinctive skin is to conceal itself in the background while waiting for a chance to ambush its prey. Other fish and marine life will not be able to see it, thus falling into the eel’s trap and swims closer. With a snap of the eel’s powerful jaws and sharp teeth, the prey will be dead before they knew it.
Structural TWO - Mild Poisonous Slime
Same as its ancestral eel, the Common Eel, the Scaled Camouflaging Eel also has a thin layer of slime covering its body. The slime’s basic purpose is to prevent bacteria and pathogens from entering the body. It also assists with osmoregulation and migrating around saltwater and freshwater. The Scaled Camouflaging Eel’s slime not only has those function, it has also been developed into a mildly toxic slime. You will feel an instant numbness if contacted with the slime. However, this feeling only exists for a short period of time and do not have any fatal effects. By numbing its predators, it has a much higher chance of escaping from death.
Behavioural ONE - Dig Holes
As weird as it might sound, the Scaled Camouflaging Eel loves to dig holes on the seabed and hide in it. Because of global warming, the earth faced extreme climate changes, the future world will be at least 5 to 10 degree Celsius higher than it is now. The temperature of the sea water will definitely follow and rise up too, becoming a much warmer environment for marine organisms. The eels dig holes on the seabed to keep themselves cool. They wriggle their bodies deep into the cool sand to prevent the hot summer days. It is not unusual to see more than one eel living in one hole; there can be up to five eels living in one. Some holes can be as deep as 10m; this is where the sand is around 10 degrees lower than the outside world. Since the Scaled Camouflaging Eel is a nocturnal animal, it rarely comes out of the hole in broad daylight.
Behavioural TWO - Mating Behaviours
When choosing a mating partner in the animal kingdom, the males will always have to fight for it. The winning male, obviously the stronger one, mates with the female. This will pass the stronger genes to the next generation and the cycle continues. The Scaled Camouflaging Eel’s mating season is in the middle of winter. On a dark moonless night, the male eel and female eel release sperms and eggs into the sea. They will then combine and form a tiny organism. This organism will then attach themselves on a fish’s skin and live on its nutrients. After a few months, they will turn into tiny looking transparent eels. It takes around 15 years for both male and female to become sexually mature.
During this time, the eel will develop its sharp teeth and all its structural adaptations. The young eels will not be able to camouflage like an adult eel, instead they have a muddy skin colour and tend to live near the seabed. They eat crustacean that floats around in the sea. The eel’s last stage of development is its camouflaging skin; it is a sign of the eel becoming mature.
Physiological ONE - Echolocation
The newly evolved Scaled Camouflaging Eel has no eyesight at all due to the extreme poor eyesight its ancestor had. However, it will still be able to “see” its surrounding environment even better than a human eye. The eel uses the method of echolocation like a dolphin or a bat. It sends out high frequency waves and when it hits an object some of the wave reflects back to the eel. It then generates another wave, which measures the distance and the size of the object.
Echolocation not only allows the eel to locate its surroundings but also in a much more complex way. Some of which we can’t even see with our naked eyes. The high frequency wave the eel send out can go through skin before reflecting back. This means, it works as a sort of x-ray, revealing an organism’s organs and structure to the eel. Echolocation is extremely sensitive and can locate an object a couple of metres away.
Bibliography
Dolphin Echolocation. Dolphins. (2010). Last Retrieved 25th July 2010.
http://www.dolphinkind.com/echolocation.html
Echolocatino. BATS!. (2010). Last Retrieved 25th July 2010.
http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/bats/resources/echolocation.htm
Echolocation. National Parks. (2006). Last Retrieved 25th July 2010. http://www.eparks.org/wildlife_protection/wildlife_facts/bats/echolocation.asp
How bats work. How stuff work. (2010). Last Retrieved 25th July 2010.
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/bat2.htm
What is dolphin echolocation? Essortment. (2002). Last Retrieved 25th July 2010. http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisdolphins_rjms.htm